by the way, does anybody know if i can have pages added a second time in my passport? i've had them added once already but thanks to all these visas i think i'm going to run out again before my passport expires.
but also i'm pretty annoyed with the line in that e-mail that says "The study, which was the most detailed and exhaustive ever conducted by the Department of State, established the true cost of providing these consular services, which by law must be recovered through collection of fees."
True cost? Poo. Apart from adding those extra pages in my passport, the entire six years i've been abroad, i don't see what the consulate has done for me. even during the sichuan earthquake they didn't even send out an e-mail until weeks after the fact. and even then it was like, attention, everybody, there's been an earthquake. so this "actual cost?" what are we paying for? employees to reject chinese visa applications?
magentalisted
By law - you are allowed to stuff in up to 3 additions - but at $80 a stuff - it's getting cheaper to just get a new passport (the obvious point of the fees).
State Dept wants us all to migrate to the impossible to counterfeit (who're they trying to kid) new smart chip embedded (cracked years ago in taiwan and hkg) passports...
i had my second set added a few weeks ago
in hanoi. sucks to pay $82 for 24 pages, only
17 of which can be used. it's almost enough
to make one renounce their citizenship, only
now they charge $450 for that service.
So, just to be clear, if I need more pages in my US passport (which I do), I have to go to Chengdu, correct? And, how long does it take, once you give them the paperwork? Thanks!
@mm
Contact the consulate via email. You MAY be able to just mail it in. Failing that, the consulate's due for yet another KM visit - and they can just mail the passport back.
If you go to the embassy - it should take roughly 15-20 minutes - they might make it longer or tell you to come back in the afternoon - as they may be busy (busy is a rather vague term).
Don't forget to make an appointment - I had to become unglued as I travelled to the consulate without an appointment (emergency), arrived early in the morning, and they tried to block me at the entrance to the consulate (I'm a US citizen, see how far that went) as I didn't have an appointment, then the window dressing tried to tell me to go away and make an online appointment and come back...for emergency services, then the actual consulate staff tried to pull the same stunt.
Fortunately - I've worked extensively with and for governmental and institutional (banks) insensitivity, laziness, and irresponsibility to bulldoze my way through <expletive reference to bovine manure> to get things done as per emergency US citizen services requirements.
Just be emphatic - make sure you know your rights, get everything in email upfront and BRING THE PRINTED EMAIL as evidence, the reflect the occasionally misguided <more choice adjectives> attitudes that may pop up and get done what was promised.
So - contact the consulate via email first - get the process from them so there's no confusion and you have agreement on how to proceed, then hopefully they'll remember what they told you and execute as promised...and don't let anyone try to delay or impede you unexpectedly (which will cost you time and money - unless you want to wander around Chengdu - nice place).
www.disclose.tv/[...]
Great video to understand where the USA is headed.
Where did the EDIT button disappear to?
I ordered a new passport and passport card in Nov 2013. I received my new passport within a week but still do not have my passport card. I sent them an email asking about my passport card that I paid for but only received an auto reply. Still waiting.
Oooops, I forgot to list my credentials that give me a right to complain about the land of the slaves and home of the cowards.
